Vivax Malaria Vaccine In Works

The first-ever vaccine to prevent vivax malaria--a scourge that kills and sickens millions of people in the tropics--is being developed by Doctors Victor and Ruth Nussenzweig of New York University.

Using elegant new gene splicing techniques, the Nussenzweigs have produced a prototype vaccine that will be tested in humans next year. Last year, the husband-wife research team used the same technique to develop a vaccine for falciparum malaria.

If both vaccines work, people who live in mosquito-infested areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America will owe the Nussenzweigs an enormous debt of gratitude.